list
/lɪst/ noun, verb, proper noun
- noun A strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth.
- noun Material used for cloth selvage.
- noun A register or roll of paper consisting of a compilation or enumeration of a set of possible items; the compilation or enumeration itself.
- noun (in the plural, historical) The barriers or palisades used to fence off a space for jousting or tilting tournaments.
- noun (in the plural, military, historical) The scene of a military contest; the ground or field of combat; an enclosed space that serves as a battlefield; the site of a pitched battle.
- noun (computing, programming) A codified representation of a list used to store data or in processing; especially, in the Lisp programming language, a data structure consisting of a sequence of zero or more items.
- noun (architecture) A little square moulding; a fillet or listel.
- noun (carpentry) A narrow strip of wood, especially sapwood, cut from the edge of a board or plank.
- verb (transitive) To create or recite a list.
- verb (transitive) To place in listings.
- verb (transitive) To sew together, as strips of cloth, so as to make a show of colours, or to form a border.
- verb (transitive) To cover with list, or with strips of cloth; to put list on; to stripe as if with list. “to list a door”
- verb (transitive, agriculture) To plough and plant with a lister.
- verb (transitive, agriculture, chiefly Southern US) To prepare (land) for a cotton crop by making alternating beds and alleys with a hoe.
- verb (transitive, carpentry) To cut away a narrow strip, as of sapwood, from the edge of. “to list a board”
- verb (transitive, military) To enclose (a field, etc.) for combat.
- noun (archaic) Art; craft; cunning; skill.
- verb (intransitive, poetic) To listen.
- verb (transitive, poetic) To listen to.
- verb (transitive, archaic) To desire, like, or wish (to do something).
Synonyms
tabulate cunning listing tilt inclination lean leaning name heel number
Etymology
From Middle English lī̆st, lī̆ste (“band, stripe; hem, selvage; border, edge, rim; list, specification; barriers enclosing area for jousting, etc.”), from Old English līste (“hem, edge, strip”), or Old French liste, listre (“border; band; strip of paper; list”), or Medieval Latin lista, all from Proto-West Germanic *līstā, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to trace, track”).
* Saterland Frisian Lieste (“margin, strip, list”)
* Dutch lijst (“picture frame, list”)
* German Low German Liest (“edging, border”)
* German Leiste (“strip, rail, ledge; (heraldry) bar”)
* Swedish lista (“list”)
* Icelandic lista listi (“list”)
* Italian lista (“list; strip”)
* Portuguese lista (“list”)
* Spanish lista (“list, roll; stripe”)
* Galician lista (“band, strip; list”)
* Finnish lista (“(informal) list; batten”).
From Middle English list, liste (“ability, cleverness, cunning, skill; adroitness, dexterity; strategem, trick; device, design, token”), from Old English list (“art, craft; cleverness, cunning, experience, skill”), from Proto-West Germanic *listi, from Proto-Germanic *listiz (“art, craft”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys-, *leyǝs- (“furrow, trace, track, trail”).
The word is cognate with Dutch list (“artifice, guile, sleight; ruse, strategem”), German List (“cunning, guile; ploy, ruse, trick”), Low German list (“artifice, cunning; prudence, wisdom”), Icelandic list (“art”), Saterland Frisian list (“cunning, knowledge”), Scots list (“art, craft, skill; cunning”), Swedish list (“art; cunning, guile, wile; ruse, trick; stealth”), and possibly Spanish listo (“clever”). It is also related to learn, lore.
From Middle English listen, from Old English hlystan (“to listen”), from hlyst (“hearing”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlusti, from Proto-Germanic *hlustiz (“hearing”).
From Middle English listen, list, liste, leste, lesten (“to choose, desire, wish (to do something)”), from Old English lystan, from Proto-West Germanic *lustijan, from Proto-Germanic *lustijaną, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz (“pleasure”).
The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian läste (“to wish for, desire, crave”), West Frisian lêste (“to like, desire”), Dutch lusten (“to appreciate, like; to lust”), German lüsten, gelüsten (“to desire, want, crave”), Danish lyste (“to desire, feel like, want”), Faroese lysta (“to desire”).
The noun sense is from the verb, or from Middle English list, liste, lest, leste (“desire, wish; craving, longing; enjoyment, joy, pleasure”), which is derived from Middle English listen, list (verb).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A line inclosing or forming the extremity of a piece of ground, or field of combat; hence, in the plural (lists), the ground or field inclosed for a race or combat. Chaucer.
- verb To inclose for combat; as, to list a field.
- verb To hearken; to attend; to listen. [Obs. except in poetry.]
- verb To listen or hearken to. Then weigh what loss your honor may sustain, If with too credent ear you list his songs. Shak.
Etymology [F. lice, LL. liciae, pl., from L. licium thread, girdle.]
Etymology [See Listen.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “list”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details